Method and system for efficient servicing of storage access requests

ABSTRACT

A system for managing storage of data in composed information handling systems includes a system control processor manager that identifies a compute resource set having compute resources specified by a composition request, identifies a hardware resource set having hardware resources specified by the composition request including a local data processor that services writes using a local device and a remote device, sets up storage management services for managing writes of data to the hardware resource set using a control resource set and the compute resource set to obtain logical hardware in which the local data processor preferentially services writes of the data using the local device rather than the remote device, and presents the logical hardware resources using the control resource set to the compute resource set as bare metal resources to instantiate a composed information handling system to service the composition request.

BACKGROUND

Computing devices may provide services. To provide the services, thecomputing devices may include hardware components and softwarecomponents. The services provided by the computing devices may belimited by these components.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a system for managing storage of data in composedinformation handling systems in accordance with one or more embodimentsof the invention includes a storage for storing storage information anda system control processor manager that obtains a composition requestfor a composed information handling system, identifies at least onecompute resource set having compute resources specified by thecomposition request, identifies at least one hardware resource sethaving hardware resources specified by the composition request, in whichthe hardware resources include a local device for storing data and alocal data processor adapted to service writes using the local deviceand at least one remote device, sets up storage management services formanaging writes of data to the at least one hardware resource set usingan at least one control resource set and the at least one computeresource set to obtain logical hardware, in which the local dataprocessor preferentially services the writes of the data using the localdevice rather than the at least one remote device, and presents thelogical hardware resources using the at least one control resource setto the at least one compute resource set as bare metal resources toinstantiate a composed information handling system to service thecomposition request.

In one aspect, a method for managing storage of data in composedinformation handling systems in accordance with one or more embodimentsof the invention includes obtaining a composition request for a composedinformation handling system, identifying at least one compute resourceset having compute resources specified by the composition request,identifying at least one hardware resource set having hardware resourcesspecified by the composition request, in which the hardware resourcesinclude a local device for storing data and a local data processoradapted to service writes using the local device and at least one remotedevice, setting up storage management services for managing writes ofdata to the at least one hardware resource set using an at least onecontrol resource set and the at least one compute resource set to obtainlogical hardware, in which the local data processor preferentiallyservices the writes of the data using the local device rather than theat least one remote device, and presenting the logical hardwareresources using the at least one control resource set to the at leastone compute resource set as bare metal resources to instantiate acomposed information handling system to service the composition request.

In one aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the invention includes computer readableprogram code, which when executed by a computer processor enables thecomputer processor to perform a method for managing storage of data incomposed information. The method includes obtaining a compositionrequest for a composed information handling system, identifying at leastone compute resource set having compute resources specified by thecomposition request, identifying at least one hardware resource sethaving hardware resources specified by the composition request, in whichthe hardware resources include a local device for storing data and alocal data processor adapted to service writes using the local deviceand at least one remote device, setting up storage management servicesfor managing writes of data to the at least one hardware resource setusing an at least one control resource set and the at least one computeresource set to obtain logical hardware, in which the local dataprocessor preferentially services the writes of the data using the localdevice rather than the at least one remote device, and presenting thelogical hardware resources using the at least one control resource setto the at least one compute resource set as bare metal resources toinstantiate a composed information handling system to service thecomposition request.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Certain embodiments of the invention will be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings. However, the accompanying drawings illustrateonly certain aspects or implementations of the invention by way ofexample and are not meant to limit the scope of the claims.

FIG. 1.1 shows a diagram of a system in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1.2 shows a diagram of an information handling system in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of local hardware resources in accordance withone or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a system control processor in accordance withone or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a diagram of a system control processor manager inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5.1 shows a flowchart of a method of instantiating a composedinformation handling system based on a composition request in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5.2 shows a flowchart of a method of setting up management servicesbased on a composition request in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5.3 shows a flowchart of a method of performing a data storageoperation in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 6.1-6.4 shows diagrams of the operation of an example system overtime in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a computing device in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Specific embodiments will now be described with reference to theaccompanying figures. In the following description, numerous details areset forth as examples of the invention. It will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that one or more embodiments of the present inventionmay be practiced without these specific details and that numerousvariations or modifications may be possible without departing from thescope of the invention. Certain details known to those of ordinary skillin the art are omitted to avoid obscuring the description.

In the following description of the figures, any component describedwith regard to a figure, in various embodiments of the invention, may beequivalent to one or more like-named components described with regard toany other figure. For brevity, descriptions of these components will notbe repeated with regard to each figure. Thus, each and every embodimentof the components of each figure is incorporated by reference andassumed to be optionally present within every other figure having one ormore like-named components. Additionally, in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention, any description of the components of afigure is to be interpreted as an optional embodiment, which may beimplemented in addition to, in conjunction with, or in place of theembodiments described with regard to a corresponding like-namedcomponent in any other figure.

Throughout this application, elements of figures may be labeled as A toN. As used herein, the aforementioned labeling means that the elementmay include any number of items and does not require that the elementinclude the same number of elements as any other item labeled as A to N.For example, a data structure may include a first element labeled as Aand a second element labeled as N. This labeling convention means thatthe data structure may include any number of the elements. A second datastructure, also labeled as A to N, may also include any number ofelements. The number of elements of the first data structure and thenumber of elements of the second data structure may be the same ordifferent.

In general, embodiments of the invention relate to systems, devices, andmethods for performing storage management directed at preferentiallywriting data to storage resources that are capable of storing the data.To provide storage management services, computing resources may need tobe allocated for the performance of the services. The resources mayinclude, for example, processing resources, memory, resources, storageresources, computing resources, etc.

To allocate the computing resources, composed information handlingsystems may be instantiated. A composed information handling system maybe a device (the components of which may be distributed across one ormore information handling systems) that has exclusive use over aquantity of computing resources. Computing resources from multipleinformation handling systems may be allocated to a composed informationhandling system thereby enabling a composed information handling systemto utilize computing resources from any number of information handlingsystem for performance of corresponding computer implemented services.

To allocate computing resources, the system may include a system controlprocessor manager. The system control processor manager may obtaincomposition requests. The composition requests may indicate a desiredoutcome such as, for example, execution of one or more application,providing of our or more services, etc. The system control processormanager may translate the composition requests into correspondingquantities of computing resources necessary to be allocated to satisfythe intent of the composition requests.

Once the quantities of computing resources are obtained, the systemcontrol processor manager may allocate resources of the informationhandling system to meet the identified quantities of computing resourcesby instructing system control processors of the information handlingsystems to prepare to present hardware resources sets of the informationhandling system to compute resource sets of the information handlingsystems.

Additionally, during the preparation of the hardware resource sets, thesystem control processor manager may instruct the system controlprocessors to manage the hardware resources of the hardware resourcesets and to generate and maintain storage information associated withthe storage resources of the hardware resource sets. However, when thesystem control processors present aforementioned resources to thecompute resource sets, the system control processors may present theresources as bare metal resources while managing them in more complexmanners i.e., perform at least a portion of the storage managementservices, thereby rendering the performance of storage managementservices transparent to at least a portion of the compute resource setsand the entities executing on the compute resource sets. Furthermore,the system control processor manager may instantiate one or more targetagents using a compute resource of the compute resources set to providethe storage management services for composed information handlingsystems in conjunction with one or more system control processors.

By doing so, embodiments of the invention may provide storage managementservices using target agents and system control processors withoutinterrupting and/or hindering the performance of computer implementedservices provided by the compute resource set and entities executing onthe compute resource set. Consequently, even though at least a portionof the resulting composed information handling system control plane maybe unaware of the implementation of the storage management servicesprovided by the target agents and the system control processors, thecomposed information handling systems may still operate in accordancewith storage management services, thereby improving the efficiency ofstoring data in a composed information handling system and reducingnetwork congestion in composed information handling systems.

Storage management services performed by target agents may includeperforming preferential writes of data to storage resources that aremost capable of efficiently storing the data. The target agents may workwith system control processors to identify storage resources of thehardware resource set of composed information handling systems that aremost capable of storing application data associated with storagerequests using storage information. Embodiments of the inventiontherefore allows for data to be stored in storage resources that arecapable of storing the data, resulting in the elimination of redundantnetwork hopping, reducing the network requirements to store data in acomposed information handling system and improving the efficiency ofstoring data in a composed information handling system.

FIG. 1.1 shows a system in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe invention. The system may include any number of information handlingsystems (60). The information handling systems (60) may provide computerimplemented services. The computer implemented services may include, forexample, database services, data storage services, electroniccommunications services, data protection services, and/or other types ofservices that may be implemented using information handling systems.

The information handling system of the system of FIG. 1.1 may operateindependently and/or cooperatively to provide the computer implementedservices. For example, a single information handling system (e.g., 22)may provide a computer implemented service on its own (i.e.,independently) while multiple other information handling systems (e.g.,62, 64) may provide a second computer implemented service cooperatively(e.g., each of the multiple other information handling systems mayprovide similar and or different services that form the cooperativelyprovided service).

To provide computer implemented services, the information handlingsystems (60) may utilize computing resources provided by hardwaredevices. The computing resources may include, for example, processingresources, storage resources, memory resources, graphics processingresources, communications resources, and/or other types of resourcesprovided by the hardware devices. Various hardware devices may providethese computing resources.

Performing the computer implemented services may result in thegeneration of data. The data may be may be important to the systemand/or a user or the system and may be required to be stored forprotection and/or restoration purposes. The data may be stored for otherand/or additional purposes without departing from the invention. Storingthe data in the hardware devices of the system may be problematicbecause hardware devices may be unavailable or incapable of storing thedata, resulting in inefficiencies in storing data in composedinformation handling systems.

In general, embodiments of the invention relate to system, methods, anddevices for managing the hardware resources of the information handlingsystems (22) and/or other resources (e.g., external resources (30)) toprovide data protection services for data generated by the system. Thehardware resources of the information handling systems (22) may bemanaged by instantiating one or more composed information handlingsystems using the hardware resources of the information handling systems(22), external resources (30), and/or other types of hardware devicesoperably connected to the information handling systems (22). During theinstantiation of the composed information handling systems, one or moredevices, including a target agent and a system control processor, may beautomatically setup to perform storage management services for thecomposed information handling system, including the preferential writesof data, further improving the efficiency of storing data in thecomposed information handling systems. Consequently, storage managementservices may be provided to the composed information handling systemsresulting in the efficient storage of data and a reduction in thenetwork requirements necessary to store data in composed informationhandling systems.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system includes asystem control processor manager (50). The system control processormanager (50) may provide composed information handling systemcomposition services. Composed information handling system compositionservices may include (i) obtaining composition requests for composedinformation handling systems and (ii) aggregating computing resourcesfrom the information handling systems (60) and/or external resources(30) using system control processors to service the composition requestsby instantiating composed information handling systems in accordancewith the requests. By doing so, instantiated composed informationhandling systems may provide computer implemented services in accordancewith the composition requests.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessor manager (50) instantiates composed information handlingsystems in accordance with a three resource set model. As will bediscussed in greater detail below, the computing resources of aninformation handling system may be divided into three logical resourcesets: a compute resource set, a control resource set, and a hardwareresource set. Different resource sets, or portions thereof, from thesame or different information handling systems may be aggregated (e.g.,caused to operate as a computing device) to instantiate a composedinformation handling system having at least one resource set from eachset of the three resource set model.

By logically dividing the computing resources of an information handlingsystem into these resource sets, different quantities an types ofcomputing resource may be allocated to each composed informationhandling system thereby enabling the resources allocated to therespective information handling system to match performed workloads.Further, dividing the computing resources in accordance with the threeset model may enable different resource sets to be differentiated (e.g.,given different personalities) to provide different functionalities.Consequently, composed information handling systems may be composed onthe basis of desired functionalities rather than just on the basis ofaggregate resources to be included in the composed information handlingsystem.

Additionally, by composing composed information handling systems in thismanner, the control resource set of each composed information handlingsystem may be used to consistently deploy management services across anynumber of composed information handling systems. Consequently,embodiments of the invention may provide a framework for unifiedsecurity, manageability, resource management/composability, workloadmanagement, and distributed system management by use of this threeresource set model. For additional details regarding the system controlprocessor manager (50), refer to FIG. 4.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, a composed informationhandling system is a device that is formed using all, or a portion, ofthe computing resources of the information handling systems (60), theexternal resources (30), and/or other types of hardware devices operablyconnected to the information handling systems (60). The composedinformation handling system may utilize the computing resourcesallocated to it to provide computer implemented services. For example,the composed information handling system may host one or moreapplications that utilize the computing resources assigned to thecomposed information handling system. The applications may provide thecomputer implemented services.

To instantiate composed information handling systems, the informationhandling systems (60) may include at least three resource sets includinga control resource set. The control resource set may include a systemcontrol processor. The system control processor of each informationhandling system may coordinate with the system control processor manager(50) to enable composed information handling systems to be instantiated.For example, the system control processor of an information handlingsystem may provide telemetry data regarding the computing resources ofan information handling system, may perform actions on behalf of thesystem control processor manager (50) to aggregate computing resourcestogether, may organize the performance of duplicative workloads toimprove the likelihood that workloads are completed, and/or may provideservices that unify the operation of composed information handlingsystems.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, compute resource sets ofcomposed information handling systems are presented with bare metalresources by control resource sets even when the presented resources areactually being managed using one or more layers of abstraction,emulation, virtualization, security model, etc. For example, the systemcontrol processors of the control resource sets may provide theabstraction, emulation, virtualization, data protection, and/or otherservices while presenting the resources as bare metal resources.Consequently, these services may be transparent to applications hostedby the compute resource sets of composed information handling systemsthereby enabling uniform deployment of such services without requiringimplementation of control plane entities hosted by the compute resourcesets of the composed information handling systems. For additionaldetails regarding the information handling systems (60), refer to FIG.1.2.

The external resources (30) may be provide computing resources that maybe allocated for use by composed information handling systems. Forexample, the external resources (30) may include hardware devices thatprovide any number and type of computing resources. The composedinformation handling system may use these resource to provide theirfunctionalities. Different external resources (e.g., 32, 34) may providesimilar or different computing resources.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system of FIG. 1.1includes backup storages (70) that provide data storage services to thecomposed information handling systems. The backup storages (70) mayinclude any number of backup storages, for example, the backup storages(70) may include backup storage A (72) and backup storage N (74). Thedata storage services may include storing of data provided by thecomposed information handling systems and providing previously storeddata to the composed information handling systems. The data stored inbackup storages (70) may be used for restoration purposes. The datastored in the backup storages (70) may be used for other purposeswithout departing from the invention. The data stored in backup storages(70) may include backups generated during the performance of dataprotection services of the composed information handling systems. Thebackups may be any type of backup (e.g., snapshot, incremental backup,full backup, etc.) without departing from the invention. The data storedin backup storages (70) may include other and/or additional types ofdata obtained from other and/or additional components without departingfrom the invention.

The system of FIG. 1.1 may include any number of information handlingsystems (e.g., 62, 64), any number of external resources (e.g., 32, 34),any number of backup storages (e.g., 72, 74), and any number of systemcontrol processor managers (e.g., 50). Any of the components of FIG. 1.1may be operably connected to any other component and/or other componentsnot illustrated in FIG. 1.1 via one or more networks (e.g., 130). Thenetworks may be implemented using any combination of wired and/orwireless network topologies.

The system control processor manager (50), information handling systems(60), backup storages (70), and/or external resources (30) may beimplemented using computing devices. The computing devices may include,for example, a server, laptop computer, a desktop computer, a node of adistributed system, etc. The computing device may include one or moreprocessors, memory (e.g., random access memory), and/or persistentstorage (e.g., disk drives, solid state drives, etc.). The persistentstorage may store computer instructions, e.g., computer code, that (whenexecuted by the processor(s) of the computing device) cause thecomputing device to perform the functions of the system controlprocessor manager (50), information handling systems (60), backupstorages (70), and/or external resources (30) described in thisapplication and/or all, or a portion, of the methods illustrated inFIGS. 5.1-5.3. The system control processor manager (50), informationhandling systems (60), backup storages (70), and/or external resources(30) may be implemented using other types of computing devices withoutdeparting from the invention. For additional details regarding computingdevices, refer to FIG. 7.

While the information handling systems (60) have been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, aninformation handling system in accordance with embodiments of theinvention may include additional, fewer, and/or different componentswithout departing from the invention.

Turning to FIG. 1.2, FIG. 1.2 shows a diagram of an information handlingsystem (100) in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention. Any of the information handling systems (e.g., 60) of FIG.1.1 may be similar to the information handling system (100) illustratedin FIG. 1.2.

As discussed above, the information handling system (100) may provideany quantity and type of computer implemented services. To provide thecomputer implemented services, resources of the information handlingsystem may be used to instantiate one or more composed informationhandling systems. The composed information handling systems may providethe computer implemented services.

To provide computer implemented services, the information handlingsystem (100) may include any number and type of hardware devicesincluding, for example, one or more processors (106), any quantity andtype of processor dedicated memory (104), one or more system controlprocessors (114), and any number of hardware resources (118). Thesehardware devices may be logically divided into three resource setsincluding a compute resource set (102), a control resource set (108),and a hardware resource set (110).

The control resource set (108) of the information handling system (100)may facilitate formation of composed information handling systems andmanage a portion of the storage management services with target agents.To do so, the control resource set (108) may prepare any quantity ofresources from any number of hardware resource sets (e.g., 110) (e.g.,of the information handling system (100) and/or other informationhandling systems) for presentation to processing resources of any numberof computing resource sets (e.g., 102) (e.g., of the informationhandling system (100) and/or other information handling systems). Onceprepared, the control resource set (108) may present the preparedresources as bare metal resources to the processors (e.g., 106) of theallocated computing resources. By doing so, a composed informationhandling system may be instantiated. Additionally, the control resourceset (108) may prepare hardware resource sets (e.g., 110) or othercomputer resources (e.g., system control processors (114)) to be atarget agent and perform storage management services.

To prepare the resources of the hardware resource sets for presentation,the control resource set (108) may employ, for example, virtualization,indirection, abstraction, and/or emulation. These managementfunctionalities may be transparent to applications hosted by theresulting instantiated composed information handling systems.Consequently, while unknown to the control plane entities of thecomposed information handling system, the composed information handlingsystem may operate in accordance with any number of management modelsthereby providing for unified control and management of composedinformation handling systems. These functionalities may be transparentto applications hosted by composed information handling systems therebyrelieving them from overhead associated with these functionalities.

For example, consider a scenario where a compute resource set isinstructed to instantiate a composed information handling systemincluding a compute resource set and a hardware resource set that willcontribute storage resources to the compute resource set. The computeresource set may virtualize the storage resources of the hardwareresource set to enable a select quantity of the storage resources to beallocated to the composed information handling system while reservingsome of the storage resources for allocation to other composedinformation handling systems. However, the prepared storage resourcesmay be presented to the compute resource set as bare metal resources.Consequently, the compute resource set may not need to host any controlplane entities or otherwise incur overhead for utilizing the virtualizedstorage resources.

The compute resource set (102) may include one or more processors (106)operably connected to the processor dedicated memory (104).Consequently, the compute resource set (102) may host any number ofexecuting processes thereby enabling any number and type of workloads tobe performed. When performing the workloads, the compute resource set(102) may utilize computing resources provided by the hardware resourceset (110) of the information handling system (100), hardware resourcesets of other information handling systems, and/or external resources.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessor manager (e.g., 50, FIG. 1.1) may use one or more processors(106) of the compute resource set (102) to instantiate and executetarget agents (not shown) of composed information handling systems. Thetarget agents may work with the system control processors (114) toprovide storage management services for composed information handlingsystems.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, a target agent may beprogrammed to provide storage management services for composedinformation handling systems. The storage management services mayinclude (i) obtaining storage requests from compute resources of thecompute resources sets of composed information handling system executingapplications that generate data, (ii) requesting and obtaining storageinformation associated with storage resources of hardware resource setsof composed information handling systems, (iii) identifying storageresources that are most capable of servicing storage requests, and (iv)writing data to the identified storage resources to service storagerequests. The storage resources may be local storage resources (i.e.,storage devices included in the same information handling system of thecomposed information handling system) and/or remote storage resources(i.e., storage devices included in a different information handlingsystem or external resource operably connected to the target agent). Thestorage management services may include other and/or additional serviceswithout departing from the invention. The target agent may perform all,or a portion of, the method of FIG. 5.3.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, a target agent isimplemented using a processor adapted to execute computing code storedon a persistent storage (e.g., as part of processor of a computeresource set thereby enabling processor of the compute resource set(102) to obtain and execute the computing code) that when executed bythe processor performs the functionality of the target agent. Theprocessor may be a hardware processor including circuitry such as, forexample, a central processing unit or a microcontroller. The processormay be other types of hardware devices for processing digitalinformation without departing from the invention.

The processors (106) of the compute resource set (102) may be operablyconnected to one or more system control processors (114) of the controlresource set (108). For example, the processors (106) may be connectedto a compute resource interface (112), which is also connected to thesystem control processors (114).

The system control processors (114) of the hardware resource set (110)may present computing resources to the processors (106) as bare metalresources. In other words, from the point of view of the processors(106), any number of bare metal resources may be operably connected toit via the compute resources interface (112) when, in reality, thesystem control processors (114) are operably connected to the processors(106) via the compute resources interface (112). In other words, thesystem control processors (114) may managing presentation of other typesof resources to the compute resource set (102).

By presenting the computing resources to the processors as bare metalresources, control plane entities (e.g., applications) such ashypervisors, emulators, and/or other types of management entities maynot need to be hosted (e.g., executed) by the processors (106) for theprocessors (106) and entities hosted by them to utilize the computingresources allocated to a composed information handling system.Accordingly, all of the processing resources provided by the computeresource set (102) may be dedicated to providing the computerimplemented services.

For example, the processors (106) may utilize mapped memory addresses tocommunicate with the bare metal resources presented by the systemcontrol processors (114) to the processors (106). The system controlprocessors (114) may obtain these communications and appropriately remap(e.g., repackage, redirect, encapsulate, etc.) the communications to theactual hardware devices providing the computing resources, which theprocessors (106) are interacting with via the compute resourcesinterface (112) and/or hardware resources interface (116), discussedbelow. Consequently, indirection, remapping, and/or other functionsrequired for resource virtualization, emulation, abstraction, or othermethods of resource allocation (other than bare metal) and manage maynot need to be implemented via the processors (106).

By doing so, any number of functions for a composed information handlingsystem may be automatically performed in a manner that is transparent tothe control plane. Accordingly, a composed information handling systemmay operate in a manner consistent with a unified, consistentarchitecture or model (e.g., communications model, data storage model,etc.) by configuring the operation of one or more system controlprocessors in a manner consistent with the architecture or model.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, control plane entitiesutilize computing resources presented through one or more layers ofindirection, abstraction, virtualization, etc. In other words, anindirect user of hardware devices and computing resources providedthereby.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, data plane entitiesdirectly utilize computing resources. For example, data plane entitiesmay instruct hardware devices on their operation thereby directlyutilizing computing resources provided thereby. Data plane entities maypresent the computing resources to control plane entities using one ormore layers of indirection, abstraction, virtualization, etc.

The system control processors (114) may present any number of resourcesoperably connected to it (e.g., the hardware resource set (110), otherresources operably connected to it via an interface (e.g., hardwareresources interface (116), etc.) as bare metal resources to theprocessors (106) of the compute resource set (102). Consequently, thesystem control processors (114) may implement device discovery processescompatible with the processors (106) to enable the processors (106) toutilize the presented computing resources.

For example, the hardware resource set (110) may include hardwareresources (118) operably connected to the system control processors(114) via a hardware resources interface (116). The hardware resources(118) may include any number and type of hardware devices that providecomputing resources. For additional details regarding the hardwareresources (118), refer to FIG. 2.

In another example, the system control processors (114) may be operablyconnected to other hardware resource sets of other information handlingsystems via hardware resources interface (116), network (130), and/orother system control processors of the other information handlingsystems. The system control processors may cooperatively enable hardwareresource sets of other information handling systems to be prepared andpresented as bare metal resources to the compute resource set (120).

In an additional example, the system control processors (114) may beoperably connected to external resources via hardware resourcesinterface (116) and network (130). The system control processors (114)may prepare and present the external resources as bare metal resourcesto the compute resource set (120).

For additional details regarding the operation and functions of thesystem control processors (114), refer to FIG. 3.

The compute resources interface (112) may be implemented using anysuitable interconnection technology including, for example, system busessuch as compute express links or other interconnection protocols. Thecompute resources interface (112) may support any input/output (IO)protocol, any memory protocol, any coherence interface, etc. The computeresources interface (112) may support processor to device connections,processor to memory connections, and/or other types of connections. Thecompute resources interface (112) may be implemented using one or morehardware devices including circuitry adapted to provide thefunctionality of the compute resources interface (112).

The hardware resources interface (116) may be implemented using anysuitable interconnection technology including, for example, system busessuch as compute express links or other interconnection protocols. Thehardware resources interface (116) may support any input/output (TO)protocol, any memory protocol, any coherence interface, etc. Thehardware resources interface (116) may support processor to deviceconnections, processor to memory connections, and/or other types ofconnections. The hardware resources interface (116) may be implementedusing one or more hardware devices including circuitry adapted toprovide the functionality of the hardware resources interface (116).

In some embodiments of the invention, the compute resource set (120),control resource set (108), and/or hardware resource set (110) may beimplemented as separate physical devices. In such a scenario, thecompute resources interface (112) and hardware resources interface (116)may include one or more networks enabling these resource sets tocommunicate with one another. Consequently, any of these resource sets(e.g., 102, 108, 110) may include network interface cards or otherdevices to enable the hardware devices of the respective resource setsto communicate with each other.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessors (114) support multiple, independent connections. For example,the system control processors (114) may support a first networkcommunications connection (e.g., an in-band connection) that may beallocated for use by applications hosted by the processors (106). Thesystem control processors (114) may also support a second networkcommunications connection (e.g., an out-of-band connection) that may beallocated for use by applications hosted by the system controlprocessors (114). The out-of-ban connection may be utilized formanagement and control purposes while the in-band connection may beutilized to provide computer implemented services. These connections maybe associated with different network endpoints thereby enablingcommunications to be selectively directed toward applications hosted bythe processors (106) and/or system control processors (114). As will bediscussed in greater detail with respect to FIG. 3, the system controlprocessors (114) may utilize the out-of-band connections to communicatewith other devices to manage (e.g., instantiate, monitor, modify, etc.)composed information handling systems.

The network (130) may correspond to any type of network and may beoperably connected to the Internet or other networks thereby enablingthe information handling system (100) to communicate with any number andtype of other devices.

The information handling system (100) may be implemented using computingdevices. The computing devices may be, for example, a server, laptopcomputer, desktop computer, node of a distributed system, etc. Thecomputing device may include one or more processors, memory (e.g.,random access memory), and/or persistent storage (e.g., disk drives,solid state drives, etc.). The persistent storage may store computerinstructions, e.g., computer code, that (when executed by theprocessor(s) of the computing device) cause the computing device toperform the functions of the information handling system (100) describedin this application and/or all, or a portion, of the methods illustratedin FIGS. 5.1-5.3. The information handling system (100) may beimplemented using other types of computing devices without departingfrom the invention. For additional details regarding computing devices,refer to FIG. 7.

While the information handling system (100) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, aninformation handling system in accordance with embodiments of theinvention may include additional, fewer, and/or different componentswithout departing from the invention.

Turning to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 shows a diagram the hardware resources (118)in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. As notedabove, system control processors of information handling system maypresent resources including, for example, some of the hardware resources(118) to form a composed information handling system.

The hardware resources (118) may include any number and types ofhardware devices that may provide any quantity and type of computingresources. For example, the hardware resources (118) may include storagedevices (200), memory devices (202), and special purpose devices (204).

The storage devices (200) may provide storage resources (e.g.,persistent storage) in which applications hosted by a composedinformation handling system may store data including any type andquantity of information. The target agents or other entities may performpreferential writes of data to the storage devices (200). In otherwords, the most capable storage device or storage resource of thestorage devices (200) may be used to store the data. The storage devices(200) may include any type and quantity of devices for storing data. Thedevices may include, for example, hard disk drives, solid state drives,tape drives, etc. The storage devices (200) may include other types ofdevices for providing storages resources without departing from theinvention. For example, the storage devices (200) may includecontrollers (e.g., redundant array of disk controllers), load balancers,and/or other types of devices.

The memory devices (202) may provide memory resources (e.g., transitoryand/or persistent storage) in which a composed information handlingsystem may store data including any type and quantity of information.The memory devices (202) may include any type and quantity of devicesfor storing data. The devices may include, for example, transitorymemory such as random access memory, persistent memory such asenterprise class memory, etc. The memory devices (202) may include othertypes of devices for providing memory resources without departing fromthe invention. For example, the storage devices (200) may includecontrollers (e.g., replication managers), load balancers, and/or othertypes of devices.

The special purpose devices (204) may provide other types of computingresources (e.g., graphics processing resources, computation accelerationresources, etc.) to composed information handling systems. The specialpurpose devices (204) may include any type and quantity of devices forproviding other types of computing resources. The special purposedevices (204) may include, for example, graphics processing units forproviding graphics processing resources, compute accelerators foraccelerating corresponding workloads performed by composed informationhandling systems, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) forperforming other functionalities, digital signal processors forfacilitating high speed communications, etc. The special purpose devices(204) may include other types of devices for providing other types ofcomputing resources without departing from the invention.

The system control processors of the information handling systems maymediate presentation of the computing resources provided by the hardwareresources (118) to computing resource sets (e.g., as bare metalresources to processors). When doing so, the system control processorsmay provide a layer of abstraction that enables the hardware resources(118) to be, for example, virtualized, emulated as being compatible withother systems, and/or directly connected to the compute resource sets(e.g., pass through). Consequently, the computing resources of thehardware resources (118) may be finely, or at a macro level, allocatedto different composed information handling systems.

Additionally, the system control processors may manage operation ofthese hardware devices in accordance with one or more models includingdata protection models. The models may include other models such as, forexample, security models, workload performance availability models,reporting models, etc. The data protection models may include performingstorage management services for data generated by the composedinformation handling system.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the storage managementservices include performing preferential writes of data directed towardthe logical hardware resources (118) to storage resources most capableof storing the data. Target agents may obtain storage requests fromcomputing resources indicating writes of data. In response to obtainingthe storage requests, the target agents may storage informationassociated with the storage resources of the composed informationhandling systems from system control processors. The target agents mayidentify the most capable storage resource, i.e., the storage resourcethat includes the necessary storage space and that may store the datathe fastest. The target agent may prefer to write data to local storageresource over remote storage resources due the improved speed andefficiency of writing data to a local storage resource. The storagemanagement services may include other types of storage managementservices such as deduplication, erasure coding, compression, and otherand/or additional services without departing from the invention.

To perform the aforementioned data protection services, during theinstantiation of a composed information handling system, the systemcontrol processor manager may prepare one or more system controlprocessors to generate and maintain storage information and targetagents to preferentially write data to storage resources.

The manner of operation of these devices i.e., the performance of theaforementioned storage management services, may be transparent to atleast a portion of the computing resource sets utilizing these hardwaredevices for providing computer implemented services. Consequently, eventhough at least a portion of the resulting composed information handlingsystem control plane may be unaware of the implementation of thesemodels, the composed information handling systems may still operate inaccordance with these models thereby managing the storage of data forcomposed information handling systems.

While the hardware resources (118) have been illustrated and describedas including a limited number of specific components, local hardwareresources in accordance with embodiments of the invention may includeadditional, fewer, and/or different components without departing fromthe invention.

As discussed above, information handling systems may include systemcontrol processors that may be used to instantiate composed informationhandling systems. FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a system control processor(298) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. Anyof the system control processors included in control resources sets ofFIG. 1.2 may be similar to the system control processor (298)illustrated in FIG. 3.

The system control processor (298) may facilitate instantiation andoperation of composed information handling systems. By doing so, asystem that includes information handling systems may dynamicallyinstantiate composed information handling systems to provide computerimplemented services and to provide data protection services to thecomposed information handling system.

To instantiate and operate composed information handling systems, thesystem control processor (298) may include a composition manager (300),a physical resources manager (302), an emulated resources manager (304),a virtual resources manager (306), a data protection orchestrator (320),an system control processor manager (308), hardware resource services(310), and storage (312). Each of these components of the system controlprocessor is discussed below.

The composition manager (300) may manage the process of instantiatingand operating composed information handling systems. To provide thesemanagement services, the composition manager (300) may includefunctionality to (i) obtain information regarding the hardwarecomponents of the information handling system (e.g., obtain telemetrydata regarding the information handling system), (ii) provide theobtained information to other entities (e.g., management entities suchas system control processor manager (50, FIG. 1.1)), (iii) obtaincomposition requests for composed information handling systems, (iv)based on the composition requests, prepare and present resources as baremetal resources to compute resource sets, (v) instantiate applicationsin composed information handling systems to cause the composedinformation handling systems to provide computer implemented services,conform their operation to security models, etc., (vi) manage theoperation of the composed information handling systems by, for example,providing a portion of storage management services with a target agent,(vii) add/remove/modify resources presented to the compute resource setsof composed information handling systems dynamically in accordance withworkloads being performed by the composed information handling systems,and/or (viii) coordinate with other system control processors to providedistributed system functionalities. By providing the abovefunctionalities, a system control processor in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the invention may enable distributed resources fromany number of information handling systems to be aggregated into acomposed information handling system to provide computer implementedservices.

To obtain information regarding the hardware components of theinformation handling system, the composition manager (300) may inventorythe components of the information handling system hosting the systemcontrol processor. The inventory may include, for example, the type andmodel of each hardware component, versions of firmware or other codeexecuting on the hardware components, and/or information regardinghardware components of the information handling system that may beallocated to form composed information handling systems.

The composition manager (300) may obtain composition requests from otherentities (e.g., management entities tasked with instantiating composedinformation handling systems), as pre-loaded instructions present instorage of the system control processor, and/or via other methods. Thecomposition requests may specify, for example, the types and quantitiesof computing resources to be allocated to a composed informationhandling system.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestsspecify the computing resource allocations using an intent based model.For example, rather than specifying specific hardware devices (orportions thereof) to be allocated to a particular compute resource setto obtain a composed information handling system, the resource requestsmay only specify that a composed information handling system is to beinstantiated having predetermined characteristics, that a composedinformation handling system will perform certain workloads or executecertain applications, and/or that the composed information handlingsystem be able to perform one or more predetermined functionalities. Insuch a scenario, the composition manager may decide how to instantiatethe composed information handling system (e.g., which resources toallocate, how to allocate the resources (e.g., virtualization,emulation, redundant workload performance, data integrity models toemploy, etc.), to which compute resource set(s) to present correspondingcomputing resources, etc.).

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestsspecify the computing resource allocations using an explicit model. Forexample, the composition requests may specify (i) the resources to beallocated, (ii) the manner of presentation of those resources (e.g.,emulating a particular type of device using a virtualized resource vs.path through directly to a hardware component), and (iii) the computeresource set(s) to which each of the allocated resources are to bepresented.

In addition to specifying resource allocations, the composition requestsmay also specify, for example, applications to be hosted by the composedinformation handling systems, security models to be employed by thecomposed information handling systems, communication models to beemployed by the composed information handling systems, data protectionservices to be provided to the composed information handling systems,user/entity access credentials for use of the composed informationhandling systems, and/or other information usable to place the composedinformation handling systems into states in which the composedinformation handling systems provide desired computer implementedservices.

To prepare and present resources to compute resource sets based on thecomposition requests, the system control processors may implement, forexample, abstraction, indirection, virtualization, mapping, emulation,and/or other types of services that may be used to present any type ofresources as a resource that is capable of bare metal utilization bycompute resource sets. To provide these services, the compositionmanager (300) may invoke the functionality of the physical resourcesmanager (302), the emulated resources manager (304), and/or the virtualresources manager (306).

Additionally, the system control processors may take into account animportance of completion of workloads when preparing and presentingresources. For example, some workloads that may be performed by varioushardware devices may be critical (e.g., high availability workloads) tothe computer implemented services to be provided by a composedinformation handling system. In such a scenario, the system controlprocessor may over allocate resources (e.g., beyond that requested by acompute resource set) for performance of the workloads so that at leasttwo instances of the workloads can be performed using duplicativeresources. By doing so, it may be more likely that at least one of theworkloads will be completed successfully. Consequently, the systemcontrol processor may provide the output of one of the workloads tocompute resource sets of a composed information handling system.

When presenting the resources to the compute resource sets, the systemcontrol processor (298) may present the resources using an emulated dataplane. For example, the system control processors (298) may receive baremetal communications (e.g., IO from the processors) and respond in amanner consistent with responses of corresponding bare metal devices(e.g., memory). When doing so, the system control processor (298) maytranslate the communications into actions. The actions may be providedto the hardware devices used by the system control processor (298) topresent the bare metal resources to the compute resource set(s). Inturn, the hardware devices may perform the actions which results in acomposed information handling system providing desired computerimplemented services.

In some scenarios, multiple system control processors may cooperate topresent bare metal resources to a compute resource set. For example, asingle information handling system may not include sufficient hardwaredevices to present a quantity and/or type of resources to a computeresource set as specified by a composition requests (e.g., present twostorage devices to a compute resource set when a single informationhandling system only includes a single storage device). In thisscenario, a second system control processor of a second informationhandling system operably connected to the system control processortasked with presenting the resources to a compute resource set mayprepare one of its storage devices for presentation. Once prepared, thesecond system control processor may communicate with the system controlprocessor to enable the system control processor to present the preparedstorage device (i.e., the storage device in the information handlingsystem) to the compute resource set. By doing so, resources frommultiple information handling system may be aggregated to present adesired quantity of resources to compute resource set(s) to form acomposed information handling system.

By forming composed information handling systems as discussed above,embodiments of the invention may provide a system that is able toeffectively utilize distributed resources across a range of devices toprovide computer implemented services.

The physical resources manager (302) may manage presentation ofresources to compute resource sets. For example, the physical resourcesmanager (302) may generate, for example, translation tables that specifyactions to be performed in response to bare metal communicationsobtained from compute resource sets. The translation tables may be usedto take action in response to communications from compute resource sets.

The physical resources manager (302) may generate the translation tablesbased on the components of the compute resource sets, allocations orother types of commands/communications obtained from the computeresource sets, and the resources of the information handling systemallocated to service the compute resource set. For example, when acompute resource set is presented with a bare metal resource, it may gothrough a discovery process to prepare the bare metal resource for use.As the discovery process proceeds, the compute resource set may sendcommands/communications to the bare metal resource to, for example,discover its address range. The physical resources manager (302) maymonitor this process, respond appropriately, and generate thetranslation table based on these command and the resources available toservice these bare metal commands/communications.

For example, consider a scenario where a virtualized disk is allocatedto service bare metal storage commands from a compute resource set. Insuch a scenario, the physical resources manager (302) may generate atranslation table that translates physical write from the computeresource set to virtualized writes corresponding to the virtualizeddisk. Consequently, the virtualized disk may be used by the systemcontrol processor (298) to present bare metal resources to the computeresource set.

The emulated resources manager (304) may generate emulation tables thatenable resources that would otherwise be incompatible with a computeresource set to be compatible with the compute resource set. Differenttypes of hardware devices of a compute resource set may be compatiblewith different types of hardware devices. Consequently, resourcesallocated to provide bare metal resources may not necessarily becompatible with the hardware devices of a compute resource set. Theemulated resources manager (304) may generate emulation tables that mapbare metal communications obtained from a compute resource set toactions that are compatible with resources allocated to provide baremetal resources to the compute resource sets.

The virtual resources manager (306) may manage virtualized resourcesthat may be allocated to provide bare metal resources to computeresource sets. For example, the virtual resources manager (306) mayinclude hypervisor functionality to virtualized hardware resources andallocate portions of the virtualized resources for use in providing baremetal resources.

While the physical resources manager (302), emulated resources manager(304), and virtual resources manager (306) have been described asgenerating tables, these components of the system control processor maygenerate other types of data structures or utilize different managementmodels to provide their respective functionalities without departingfrom the invention.

To provide the aforementioned portion of storage management services,the system control processor (298) may include the data protectionorchestrator (320). The data protection orchestrator may include thefunctionality to perform a portion of the storage management services.The portion of storage management services may include (i) obtainingrequests for storage information (discussed below) from target agents,(ii) generating storage information associated with storage resources ofthe composed information handling system, and (iii) providing storageinformation to target agents. The portion of storage management servicesmay include other and/or additional types of services without departingfrom the invention. For additional information regarding the storagemanagement services, refer to FIG. 5.3. Other components of the systemcontrol processor (298) (e.g., composition manager (300)) may performall, or a portion, of the portion of storage management services withoutdeparting from the invention.

The functionalities of the physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), virtual resources manager (306), and the dataprotection orchestrator (320) may be utilized in isolation and/orcombination to provide bare metal resources to compute resource sets andto provide management services to the composed information handlingsystem. By doing so, the system control processor (298) may addresscompatibility issues, sizing issues to match available resources tothose that are to be allocated, and/or other issues to enable bare metalresources to be presented to compute resource sets.

When providing bare metal resources, the composition manager (300) mayinvoke the functionality of the physical resources manager (302),emulated resources manager (304), and virtual resources manager (306).Consequently, resources may be presented as bare metal resources viapass-through (i.e., forwarding IO from compute resource sets to hardwaredevices), bare metal resource addressing of virtualized resources,and/or as emulated resources compatible with the hardware components ofthe compute resource set.

The functionality of the physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), virtual resources manager (306), and the dataorchestration manager (320) may be invoked using any communication modelincluding, for example, message passing, state sharing, memory sharing,etc.

The system control processor manager (308) may manage the generaloperation of the system control processor (298). For example, the systemcontrol processor manager (308) may operate as an operating system orother entity that manages the resources of the system control processor(298). The composition manager (300), physical resources manager (302),emulated resources manager (304), virtual resources manager (306), andthe data protection orchestrator (320) and/or other entities hosted bythe system control processor (298) may call or otherwise utilize thesystem control processor manager (308) to obtain appropriate resources(e.g., processing resources, memory resources, storage, communications,etc.) to provide their functionalities.

The hardware resource services (310) may facilitate use of the hardwarecomponents of any number of hardware resource sets (e.g., 110, FIG.1.1). For example, the hardware resource services (310) may includedriver functionality to appropriately communicate with the hardwaredevices of hardware resource sets. The hardware resource services (310)may be invoked by, for example, the system control processor manager(308).

When providing their functionalities, any of the aforementionedcomponents of the system control processor (298) may perform all, or aportion, methods illustrated in FIGS. 5.1-5.3.

The system control processor (298) may be implemented using computingdevices. The computing devices may be, for example, an embeddedcomputing device such a system on a chip, a processing device operablycoupled to memory and storage, or another type of computing device. Thecomputing device may include one or more processors, memory (e.g.,random access memory), and/or persistent storage (e.g., disk drives,solid state drives, etc.). The persistent storage may store computerinstructions, e.g., computer code, that (when executed by theprocessor(s) of the computing device) cause the computing device toperform the functions of the system control processor (298) described inthis application and/or all, or a portion, of the methods illustrated inFIGS. 5.1-5.3. The system control processor (298) may be implementedusing other types of computing devices without departing from theinvention. For additional details regarding computing devices, refer toFIG. 6.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessor (298) is implemented as an on-board device. For example, thesystem control processor (298) may be implemented using a chip includingcircuitry disposed on a circuit card. The circuit card may also host thecompute resource sets and/or hardware resource sets managed by thesystem control processor (298).

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition manager(300), physical resources manager (302), emulated resources manager(304), virtual resources manager (306), data protection orchestrator(320), system control processor manager (308), and/or hardware resourceservices (310) are implemented using a hardware device includingcircuitry. The hardware device may be, for example, a digital signalprocessor, a field programmable gate array, or an application specificintegrated circuit. The circuitry may be adapted to cause the hardwaredevice to perform the functionality of the composition manager (300),physical resources manager (302), emulated resources manager (304),virtual resources manager (306), data protection orchestrator (320),system control processor manager (308), and/or hardware resourceservices (310). The composition manager (300), physical resourcesmanager (302), emulated resources manager (304), virtual resourcesmanager (306), data protection orchestrator (320), system controlprocessor manager (308), and/or hardware resource services (310) may beimplemented using other types of hardware devices without departing fromthe invention.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition manager(300), physical resources manager (302), emulated resources manager(304), virtual resources manager (306), data protection orchestrator(320), system control processor manager (308), and/or hardware resourceservices (310) are implemented using a processor adapted to executecomputing code stored on a persistent storage (e.g., as part of thesystem control processor (298) or operably connected to the systemcontrol processor (298) thereby enabling processors of the systemcontrol processor (298) to obtain and execute the computing code) thatwhen executed by the processor performs the functionality of thecomposition manager (300), physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), virtual resources manager (306), dataprotection orchestrator (320), system control processor manager (308),and/or hardware resource services (310). The processor may be a hardwareprocessor including circuitry such as, for example, a central processingunit or a microcontroller. The processor may be other types of hardwaredevices for processing digital information without departing from theinvention.

As used herein, an entity that is programmed to perform a function(e.g., step, action, etc.) refers to one or more hardware devices (e.g.,processors, digital signal processors, field programmable gate arrays,application specific integrated circuits, etc.) that provide thefunction. The hardware devices may be programmed to do so by, forexample, being able to execute computer instructions (e.g., computercode) that cause the hardware devices to provide the function. Inanother example, the hardware device may be programmed to do so byhaving circuitry that has been adapted (e.g., modified) to perform thefunction. An entity that is programmed to perform a function does notinclude computer instructions in isolation from any hardware devices.Computer instructions may be used to program a hardware device that,when programmed, provides the function.

In one or more embodiments disclosed herein, the storage (312) isimplemented using physical devices that provide data storage services(e.g., storing data and providing copies of previously stored data). Thedevices that provide data storage services may include hardware devicesand/or logical devices. For example, storage (312) may include anyquantity and/or combination of memory devices (i.e., volatile storage),long term storage devices (i.e., persistent storage), other types ofhardware devices that may provide short term and/or long term datastorage services, and/or logical storage devices (e.g., virtualpersistent storage/virtual volatile storage).

For example, storage (312) may include a memory device (e.g., a dual inline memory device) in which data is stored and from which copies ofpreviously stored data are provided. In another example, storage (312)may include a persistent storage device (e.g., a solid-state disk drive)in which data is stored and from which copies of previously stored datais provided. In a still further example, storage (312) may include (i) amemory device (e.g., a dual in line memory device) in which data isstored and from which copies of previously stored data are provided and(ii) a persistent storage device that stores a copy of the data storedin the memory device (e.g., to provide a copy of the data in the eventthat power loss or other issues with the memory device that may impactits ability to maintain the copy of the data cause the memory device tolose the data).

The storage (312) may also be implemented using logical storage. Alogical storage (e.g., virtual disk) may be implemented using one ormore physical storage devices whose storage resources (all, or aportion) are allocated for use using a software layer. Thus, a logicalstorage may include both physical storage devices and an entityexecuting on a processor or other hardware device that allocates thestorage resources of the physical storage devices.

The storage (312) may store data structures including, for example,composed information handling system data (314), a resource map (316)and storage information (318). Each of these data structures isdiscussed below.

The composed information handling system data (314) may be implementedusing one or more data structures that includes information regardingcomposed information handling systems. For example, the composedinformation handling system data (314) may specify identifiers ofcomposed information handling systems and resources that have beenallocated to the composed information handling systems.

The composed information handling system data (314) may also includeinformation regarding the operation of the composed information handlingsystems. The information may include, for example, workload performancedata, resource utilization rates over time, and/or other informationthat may be utilized to manage the operation of the composed informationhandling systems.

The composed information handling system data (314) may further includeinformation regarding management models employed by system controlprocessors. For example, the composed information handling system data(314) may include information regarding duplicative data stored for dataintegrity purposes, redundantly performed workloads to meet highavailability service requirements, encryption schemes utilized toprevent unauthorized access of data, etc.

The composed information handling system data (314) may be maintainedby, for example, the composition manager (300). For example, thecomposition manager may add, remove, and/or modify information includedin the composed information handling system data (314) to cause theinformation included in the composed information handling system data(314) to reflect the state of the composed information handling systems.

The data structures of the composed information handling system data(314) may be implemented using, for example, lists, tables, unstructureddata, databases, etc. While illustrated in FIG. 3 as being storedlocally, the composed information handling system data (314) may bestored remotely and may be distributed across any number of deviceswithout departing from the invention.

The resource map (316) may be implemented using one or more datastructures that include information regarding resources of theinformation handling system and/or other information handling systems.For example, the resource map (316) may specify the type and/or quantityof resources (e.g., hardware devices, virtualized devices, etc.)available for allocation and/or that are already allocated to composedinformation handling systems. The resource map (316) may be used toprovide data to management entities such as system control processormanagers.

The data structures of the resource map (316) may be implemented using,for example, lists, tables, unstructured data, databases, etc. Whileillustrated in FIG. 3 as being stored locally, the resource map (316)may be stored remotely and may be distributed across any number ofdevices without departing from the invention.

The resource map (316) may be maintained by, for example, thecomposition manager (300). For example, the composition manager (300)may add, remove, and/or modify information included in the resource map(316) to cause the information included in the resource map (316) toreflect the state of the information handling system and/or otherinformation handling systems.

The storage information (318) may be implemented using one or more datastructures that includes information associated with storage resourcesof hardware resource sets of the composed information handling system.The storage information (318) may include locality informationassociated with a storage resource (e.g., an information handling systemidentifier (e.g., a unique global bit string) associated with theinformation handing system that includes the storage resource), storageutilization information associated with a storage resource (e.g., theamount of data stored in a storage resource and the amount of storagespace available in a storage resource), communication characteristicssuch as network speed associated with storage resources, and otherand/or additional information regarding storage resources of composedinformation handling systems without departing from the invention. Thestorage information (318) may be maintained by the system controlprocessor (298). The system control processor (298) may update thestorage information during the performance of storage managementservices. The storage information (318) may be generated by the systemcontrol processor (298). The system control processor (298) may providethe storage information to target agents, and the target agents may usethe storage information (318) to preferentially store data generated byapplications executing on the composed information handling system.

While illustrated in FIG. 3 as being stored locally on the storage (312)of the system control processor (298), the composed information handlingsystem data (314), the resource map (316), and the storage information(318) may be stored remotely and may be distributed across any number ofdevices including storage devices of the hardware resource set of thecomposed system without departing from the invention.

While the storage (312) has been illustrated and described as includinga limited number and type of data, a storage in accordance withembodiments of the invention may store additional, less, and/ordifferent data without departing from the invention.

While the system control processor (298) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, a systemcontrol processor in accordance with embodiments of the invention mayinclude additional, fewer, and/or different components without departingfrom the invention.

As discussed above, a system control processor manager may cooperatewith system control processors of control resource sets to instantiatecomposed information handling systems by presenting computing resourcesfrom hardware resource sets to processors of compute resource sets. FIG.4 shows a diagram of the system control processor manager (50) inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

The system control processor manager (50) may manage the process ofinstantiating composed information handling systems. To do so, thesystem control processor manager (50) may include an infrastructuremanager (402) and storage (410). Each of these components is discussedbelow.

The infrastructure manager (402) may provide composition services.Composition services may include obtaining composition requests forcomposed information handling systems, determining the resources toallocate to instantiate composed information handling systems, andcooperating with system control processors to allocate the identifiedresources. By doing so, the infrastructure manager (402) may cause anynumber of computer implemented services to be provided using thecomposed information handling systems.

To determine the resources to allocate to composed information handlingsystems, the infrastructure manager (402) may employ an intent basedmodel that translates an intent expressed in a composition request toone more allocations of computing resources. For example, theinfrastructure manager (402) may utilize an outcome based computingresource requirements lookup table (414) to match an expressed intent toresources to be allocated to satisfy that intent. The outcome basedcomputing resource requirements lookup table (414) may specify the type,quantity, method of management, and/or other information regarding anynumber of computing resources that when aggregated will be able tosatisfy a corresponding intent. The infrastructure manager (402) mayidentify resources for allocation to satisfy composition requests viaother methods without departing from the invention.

To cooperate with the system control processors, the infrastructuremanager (402) may obtain telemetry data regarding the computingresources of any number of information handling systems and/or externalresources that are available for allocation. The infrastructure manager(402) may aggregate this data in a telemetry data map (412) which may besubsequently used to identify resources of any number of informationhandling systems and/or external resources to satisfy compositionrequests (e.g., instantiate one or more composed information handlingsystems to meet the requirements of the composition requests).

When the infrastructure manager (402) identifies the computing resourcesto be allocated, the infrastructure manager (402) may communicate withany number of system control processors to implement the identifiedallocations. For example, the infrastructure manager (402) may notify asystem control processor of a control resource set that portions of ahardware resource set are to be allocated to a compute resource set toinstantiate a composed information handling system. The system controlprocessor may then take action (e.g., prepare the portion of thehardware resource set for presentation to a processor of the computeresource set) in response to the notification.

As composed information handling systems are instantiated, theinfrastructure manager (402) may add information reflecting theresources allocated to composed information handling systems, theworkloads being performed by the composed information handling systems,and/or other types of information to a composed infrastructure map(416). The infrastructure manager (402) may utilize this information to,for example, decide whether computing resources should be added to orremoved from composed information handling system. Consequently,computing resources may be dynamically re-provisioned over time to meetchanging workloads imposed on composed information handling systems.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the infrastructure manager(402) is implemented using a hardware device including circuitry. Thehardware device may be, for example, a digital signal processor, a fieldprogrammable gate array, or an application specific integrated circuit.The circuitry may be adapted to cause the hardware device to perform thefunctionality of the infrastructure manager (402). The infrastructuremanager (402 may be implemented using other types of hardware deviceswithout departing from the invention.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the infrastructure manager(402) is implemented using a processor adapted to execute computing codestored on a persistent storage that when executed by the processorperforms the functionality of the infrastructure manager (402). Theprocessor may be a hardware processor including circuitry such as, forexample, a central processing unit or a microcontroller. The processormay be other types of hardware devices for processing digitalinformation without departing from the invention.

When providing its functionality, the infrastructure manager (402) mayperform all, or a portion, of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 5.1-5.3.

In one or more embodiments disclosed herein, the storage (410) isimplemented using physical devices that provide data storage services(e.g., storing data and providing copies of previously stored data). Thedevices that provide data storage services may include hardware devicesand/or logical devices. For example, storage (410) may include anyquantity and/or combination of memory devices (i.e., volatile storage),long term storage devices (i.e., persistent storage), other types ofhardware devices that may provide short term and/or long term datastorage services, and/or logical storage devices (e.g., virtualpersistent storage/virtual volatile storage).

For example, storage (410) may include a memory device (e.g., a dual inline memory device) in which data is stored and from which copies ofpreviously stored data are provided. In another example, storage (410)may include a persistent storage device (e.g., a solid-state disk drive)in which data is stored and from which copies of previously stored datais provided. In a still further example, storage (410) may include (i) amemory device (e.g., a dual in line memory device) in which data isstored and from which copies of previously stored data are provided and(ii) a persistent storage device that stores a copy of the data storedin the memory device (e.g., to provide a copy of the data in the eventthat power loss or other issues with the memory device that may impactits ability to maintain the copy of the data cause the memory device tolose the data).

The storage (410) may also be implemented using logical storage. Alogical storage (e.g., virtual disk) may be implemented using one ormore physical storage devices whose storage resources (all, or aportion) are allocated for use using a software layer. Thus, a logicalstorage may include both physical storage devices and an entityexecuting on a processor or other hardware device that allocates thestorage resources of the physical storage devices.

The storage (410) may store data structures including, for example, thetelemetry data map (412), outcome based computing resource requirementslookup table (414) and the composed infrastructure map (416). These datastructures may be maintained by, for example, the infrastructure manager(402). For example, the infrastructure manager (402) may add, remove,and/or modify information included in these data structures to cause theinformation included in these data structure to reflect the state of anynumber of information handling systems, external resources, and/orcomposed information handling systems.

Any of these data structures may be implemented using, for example,lists, tables, unstructured data, databases, etc. While illustrated inFIG. 4 as being stored locally, any of these data structures may bestored remotely and may be distributed across any number of deviceswithout departing from the invention.

While the storage (410) has been illustrated and described as includinga limited number and type of data, a storage in accordance withembodiments of the invention may store additional, less, and/ordifferent data without departing from the invention.

While the system control processor manager (50) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, a systemcontrol processor manager in accordance with embodiments of theinvention may include additional, fewer, and/or different componentsthan those illustrated in FIG. 4 without departing from the invention.

As discussed above, the system of FIG. 1.1 may provide computerimplemented services using composed information handling systems. FIGS.5.1 shows a method that may be performed by components of the system ofFIG. 1.1 to manage composed information handling systems.

FIG. 5.1 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention. The method depicted in FIG. 5.1 may beperformed to instantiate a composed information handling system based ona composition request in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention. The method shown in FIG. 5.1 may be performed by, forexample, a system control processor manager (e.g., 50, FIG. 1.1). Othercomponents of the system in FIG. 1.1 may perform all, or a portion, ofthe method of FIG. 5.1 without departing from the invention.

While FIG. 5.1 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a paralleland/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

In step 500, a composition request for a composed information handlingsystem is obtained. The composition request may be obtained using anymethod without departing from the invention. For example, thecomposition request may be obtained as part of a message from anotherentity operably connected to a system control processor manager. Inanother example, the composition request may be locally stored in astorage of a system control processor manager.

The composition request may be a data structure specifying that thecomposed information handling system is to be instantiated. As discussedwith respect to FIG. 3, the composition request may be specific (i.e.,includes a listing of resources to be allocated to the composedinformation handling system) or intent based (i.e., a desired outcomewithout specifying the resources to be allocated). The compositionrequest may include any type and quantity of information usable todetermine how to instantiate a composed information handling system.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestincludes a list of computing resources to be allocated to the composedinformation handling system. For example, the composition request mayspecify computing resources, memory resources, storage resources,graphics processing resources, compute acceleration resources,communications resources, etc. The list may include any type andquantity of computing resources. The list of computing resources mayinclude computing resources to be used to provide data protectionservices. The list of computing resources may specify one or morestorage resources to be used as a target agent.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestspecifies how the computing resources are to be presented. For example,the composition request may specify virtualization, emulation, etc. forpresenting the computing resources.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestspecifies how the resources used to present the computing resources areto be managed (e.g., a management model such as data integrity,security, management, usability, performance, etc.). For example, thecomposition request may specify levels of redundancy for data storage,data integrity to be employed (e.g., redundant array of independentdisks (RAID), error correction code (ECC), etc.), levels of security tobe employed for resources (e.g., encryption), and/or other informationthat specifies how system control processors are to utilize resourcesfor presentation of resources to composed information handling systems.The composition request may specify that storage management services areto be provided to the computing resources of the composed informationhandling system. The storage management services may include performingpreferential writes of data to capable storage resources using a targetagent. The methods employed by the system control processors may betransparent to at least a portion of the composed information handlingsystems because the resources may be presented to the compute resourcesets of the composed information handling systems as bare metalresources while the system control processors provide the managementfunctionality.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestincludes a list of applications to be hosted by the composed informationhandling system. The list may include any type and quantity ofapplications.

The composition request may also specify the identities of one or moresystem control processors hosted by other devices. In some scenarios, asnoted above, resources from other information handling systems may beused to form a composed information handling system. The identifiers ofthe system control processors of these other information handlingsystems may be used to form operable connections between the systemcontrol processors. These connections may be used by the system controlprocessors to present, as bare metal resources, computing resources fromother information handling systems to compute resource set(s) of thecomposed information handling system.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestspecifies a desired outcome. The desired outcome may be, for example,computer implemented services to be provided in response to thecomposition request. In another example, the desired outcome may be alist of applications to be hosted in response to the compositionrequest. In other words, the composition request may specify a desiredoutcome without specifying the resources that are to be used to satisfythe requests, the methods of managing the resources, models employed toprovide for data protection/integrity/security/etc. Such a compositionrequest may be referred to as an intent based composition request.

In step 502, at least one compute resource set having computingresources specified by the composition request is identified. The atleast one compute resource set may be identified by matching thecomputing resources specified by the composition request to at least onecompute resource set having those resources using a telemetry data map(412, FIG. 4).

For example, the telemetry data map (412, FIG. 4) may specify a list ofcompute resource sets, identifiers of control resource sets that managethe listed compute resource sets, the hardware devices of the listedcompute resource sets, and characteristics and information regarding thecompute resource set (e.g., memory size, storage size). By matching thecomputing resources specified by the composition request to the hardwaredevices specified in the list, the compute resource set corresponding tothe listed hardware devices may be identified as the at least onecompute resource set.

If no compute resource set includes all of the computing resourcesspecified by the composition request, multiple compute resource setshaving sufficient hardware devices to meet the computing resourcesspecified by the composition request may be identified as the at leastone compute resource set.

In step 504, at least one hardware resource set having hardwareresources specified by the composition request is identified. The atleast one hardware resource set may be identified similarly to thatdescribed with respect to the identified of the at least one computeresource set of step 502. For example, the computing resourcesrequirements specified by the composition request may be matched tocompute resource sets.

In step 508, storage management services for managing writes of data tothe hardware resources are setup using at least one control resource setand the at least one compute resource set to obtain logical hardwareresources managed by the at least one control resource set. Themanagement services may include, for example, virtualization, emulation,abstraction, indirection, preferential writes, backup generation, and/orother type of services to meet the requirements of data integrity,security, and/or management models. The control resource set may providemanagement services to the at least one hardware resource set identifiedin step 506.

The management services may be setup for the hardware resource set usingthe at least one control resource set to obtain logical hardwareresources via the method of FIG. 5.2 without departing from theinvention.

In step 510, the logical hardware resources are presented to the atleast one compute resource set as bare metal resources using the atleast one control resource set to instantiate the composed informationhandling system to service the composition request.

To present the logical hardware resources, the system control processormanager may instruct the system control processors of the at leastcontrol resource set to make the bare metal resources discoverable. Forexample, the at least one control resource set may send a bare metalcommunication to one or more processors of the at least one computeresource set to cause the processors to discover the presence of thepresented bare metal resources. By doing so, the processors may thenbegin to utilize the logical hardware resources as bare metal resourcesresulting in a composed information handling system having all of theresources necessary to provide desired computer implemented services.

The method may end following step 510.

Using the method illustrated in FIG. 5.1, a composed informationhandling system may be formed using computing resources from one or moreinformation handling systems and/or external resources may be obtained.

Following step 510 of FIG. 5.1, no applications may be presentlyexecuting on the composed information handling system. The composedinformation handling systems may then be turned over to other entitiesfor management (e.g., orchestrators) or may be additionally managed bythe system control processor manager by instructing the system controlprocessors to load applications onto the composed information handlingsystems using any method without departing from the invention. Forexample, device images (e.g., data structures including information thatmay be used to instantiate one or more applications in correspondingoperating states) may be used to begin execution of appropriateapplications in desired states. By doing so, the composed informationhandling systems may begin to provide desired computer implementedservices. Applications may be instantiated on a composed informationhandling system using other methods (e.g., performing first-timeinstallations, copying binaries to storage and beginning execution ofthe binaries, etc.) without departing from the invention.

Concurrently with or following the steps illustrated in FIG. 5.1, thecomposed information handling system data (314, FIG. 3) and resource map(316, FIG. 3) may be updated to reflect that various resources have nowbeen allocated and are no longer available for allocation. For example,the resource map (316, FIG. 3) may be updated to indicate that thevarious hardware/virtualized devices being utilized to present baremetal resources to the composed information handling system are nowallocated and unavailable (at least in part if virtualized) forallocation to present bare metal resources to other composed informationhandling systems. The resource maps maintained by the system controlprocessor manager may be similarly updated.

Turning to FIG. 5.2, FIG. 5.2 shows a flowchart of a method of settingup management services in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention. The method of FIG. 5.2 may be performed to setup managementservices for the hardware resource set using at least one controlresource set and the at least one compute resource set to obtain logicalhardware resources. The method shown in FIG. 5.2 may be performed by,for example, a system control processor manager (e.g., 50, FIG. 1.1).Other components of the system in FIG. 1.1 may perform all, or aportion, of the method of FIG. 5.2 without departing from the invention.

While FIG. 5.2 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a paralleland/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

In step 520, at least one compute resource of the at least one computeresource set is prepared to execute a target agent to perform storagemanagement services based on storage information. To prepare the atleast one compute resource of the at least one compute resource set toexecute a target agent, the system control processor manager maycooperate with the at least one control resource set. For example, thesystem control processor manager may generate instructions and a deviceimage associated with a target image for instantiating the target image,encapsulate the instructions and device image in a message, and send themessage to one or more system control processors of the at least onecontrol resource set. The message may also specify the at least onecompute resource of the at least one compute resource set on which toinstantiate the target agent. In response to receiving the message, thesystem control processors may implement the instructions thereby sendingthe device image associated with the target agent to the specified atleast one compute resource of the at least one compute resource set andinstantiating the target agent on the at least one compute resourceusing the device image associated with the target agent. The at leastone compute resource of the at least one compute resource set may beprepared to execute a target agent to perform storage manager servicesbased on storage information via other and/or additional methods withoutdeparting from the invention.

The system control processor manager may also include identificationinformation for the system control processors and the target agent thatwill cooperate in presenting resources as part of instantiating acomposed information handling system and performing storage managementservices. Consequently, the system control processors of controlresource sets and the target agent that will facilitate bare metalpresentation of resources to processors of compute resource sets of thecomposed information handling system and perform storage managementservices may be able to identify each other, communicate with oneanother, etc.

In step 522, the at least one control resource set is prepared togenerate and maintain storage information associated with the at leastone hardware resource set. To prepare the at least one control resourceset to generate and maintain storage information, the system controlprocessor manager may cooperate with the at least one control resourceset. For example, the system control processor manager may generateinstructions for generating and maintaining storage information,encapsulate the instructions in a message, and send the message to oneor more system control processors of the at least one control resourceset. In response to receiving the message, the system control processorsmay implement the instructions thereby implementing any number of datastorage management services such as performing generating andmaintaining storage information. The storage management services mayinclude other and/or additional services such as providing storageinformation to a target agent to perform preferential writes.

The system control processor manager may also set up management servicesfor the hardware resource set that may include, for example, preparingtranslation, indirection, or abstraction tables used to translatelogical addresses provided by compute resource sets to physicaladdresses utilized by hardware devices of the hardware resource.

In another example, setting up data protection services and managementservices may include, if the type of the resource allocation is aportion of a virtualized resource, making a call to a virtualizationresources manager to allocate the portion of resources from an existingvirtualized resource or by instantiating a new virtualized resource andallocating the portion from the new virtualized resource.

In a still further example, if the type of the resource allocationrequires an emulated resource, providing data protection services andmanagement services may include instantiating a corresponding emulationlayer between a hardware device of the hardware resource set and thecompute resource set. Consequently, bare metal communications betweenthe compute resource set and the hardware device used to present thebare metal resource to the compute resource set may be automaticallytranslated by the system control processor.

Setting up management services may further include modifying theoperation of one or more devices to provide data protectionfunctionality. Other functionalities may include, for example, dataintegrity functionality (e.g., RAID, ECC, etc.), security functionality(e.g., encryption), and/or other functionalities that are transparent tothe composed information handling system.

The at least one control resource set may be prepared to storageinformation associated with the at least one hardware resource set viaother and/or additional methods without departing from the invention.

The method may end following step 522.

Using the method illustrated in FIG. 5.2, storage management servicesincluding preferential writes of data by a target agent may be setup bypreparing the at least one control resource set and the at least onehardware resource set to be presented to the compute resource set aslogical hardware resources, and preparing the at least one computeresource of the at least one compute resource set to execute a targetagent and the at least one control resource set to generate and maintainstorage information associated with the at least one hardware resourceset.

Turning to FIG. 5.3, this figure shows a flowchart of a method inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The methoddepicted in FIG. 5.3 may be performed to perform a data storageoperation in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.The method shown in FIG. 5.3 may be performed by, for example, a targetagent executing on a processor (e.g., 106, FIG. 1.2) of an informationhandling system that was allocated to a composed information handlingsystem. Other components of the system in FIG. 1.1 may perform all, or aportion, of the method of FIG. 5.3 without departing from the invention.

While FIG. 5.3 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a paralleland/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

Prior to step 530, a composed information handling system, including asystem control processor and a target agent, was instantiated based on acomposition request via the methods of FIGS. 5.1 and 5.2 discussedabove. The composition request may indicate that storage managementservices are to be implemented for applications executing on the atleast one control resource set of the composed information handlingsystem. The storage management services may include performingpreferential writes of data generated by applications hosted by thecomposed information handling system to storage resources of the atleast one hardware resource set via the method of FIG. 5.3 discussedbelow. The storage management services may include other and/oradditional services and may be implemented via other and/or additionalmethods without departing from the invention.

In step 530, a storage request is obtained. A compute resource of thecompute resource set of the composed information handling system maysend a message to the target agent. The message may include a request tostore data in a storage resource of the at least one hardware resourceset. The message may include the data to be stored in a storage resourceof the at least one hardware resource set. The storage request may beobtained via other and/or additional methods without departing from theinvention.

In step 532, storage information associated with the at least onehardware resource set is obtained. In one or more embodiments of theinvention, the target agent obtains storage information by sending amessage to a system control processor of the at least one controlresource set. The message may include a request for storage informationassociated with the storage resources included in the at least onehardware resource set. In response to obtaining the message, the systemcontrol processor may identify available storage resources of the atleast one hardware resource set. For each identified storage resource,the system control processor may identify storage information associatedwith the identified storage resource including storage space available,network bandwidth associated with writing data to the storage resource,locality to the target agent, address tables associated with the storageresource and/or other and/or additional information associated with thestorage resource without departing from the invention. The systemcontrol processor may communicate with other system control processorsof the at least one control resource set to obtain storage informationassociated with storage resources that remote, or included in anotherinformation handling system of the composed information handling system.After obtaining storage information associated with each availablestorage resource of the at least one hardware resource set, the systemcontrol processor sends a message to the target agent. The message mayinclude the storage information associated with each available storageresource of the at least one hardware resource set. Storage informationassociated with the at least one hardware resource set may be obtainedvia other and/or additional methods without departing from theinvention.

In step 534, a storage resource of the at least one hardware resourceset is identified using the storage information. As discussed above, thestorage information may specify the availability and utilization of eachstorage resource of the at least hardware resource set. The target agentmay compare the storage information associated with each storageresource with the data associated with the storage request to identifythe storage resource that is best capable of servicing the storagerequest. A storage resource of the at least one hardware resource setmay be identified using the storage information via other and/oradditional methods without departing from the invention.

For example, consider a scenario in which a target agent obtains arequest to write ten megabytes of data to a storage resource of acomposed information handling system. The storage information indicatesthat there are two available remote storage resources. The firstavailable storage resource includes five megabytes of free storage andthe second storage includes fifty megabytes of free storage. Based onthe storage information, the target agent identifies the second storageresource to use to store the data.

In step 536, storage management services are performed using the storageresource to service the storage request. In one or more embodiments ofthe invention, the target agent writes the data associated with thestorage request to the identified storage resource. The target agent mayuse address tables and/or other resources included in the storageinformation obtained from the system control processor to write the datato the storage resource. As a result, the data may be stored in theidentified storage resource of the hardware resource set of the composedinformation handling system. Storage management services may beperformed using the storage resource to service the storage request viaother and/or additional methods without departing from the invention.

The method may end following step 536.

Using the method illustrated in FIG. 5.3, storage management servicesmay be performed for a composed information handling system. The storagemanagement services may be transparent to at least a portion of theapplications executing on the compute resource set of the composedinformation handling system. Consequently, the storage managementservices provided by the target agent and the system control processormay be performed enable preferential writes of data to storage resourcesmost capable of storing data. Therefore, the efficiency of theperformance of the composed information handling system may be improved,and network congestion of composed information handling systems may bereduced.

To further clarify embodiments of the invention, a non-limiting exampleis provided in FIGS. 6.1-6.4. FIGS. 6.1 and 6.4 shows a system similarto that illustrated in FIG. 1.1. Actions performed by components of theillustrated system are illustrated by numbered, circular boxesinterconnected, in part, using dashed lines. For the sake of brevity,only a limited number of components of the system of FIG. 1.1 isillustrated in FIGS. 6.1 and 6.4. FIGS. 6.2-6.3 show diagrams ofexamples of data structures utilized by the example system of FIGS. 6.1and 6.4.

Example

Consider a scenario as illustrated in FIG. 6.1 in which a client (602),at step 1, sends a composition request to a system control processormanager (600) that manages an information handling system (610). Thecomposition request specifies that a composed information handlingsystem is to be instantiated to perform a database application workload.

In response to the composition request, the system control processormanager (600), at step 2, identifies computing resources to be allocatedto the composed information handling system using the table illustratedin FIG. 6.3. As seen in FIG. 6.3, the outcome based computing resourcerequirements lookup table (660) includes an entry (e.g., 662) associatedwith hosting of a database application.

The database application entry (662) is used by the system controlprocessor manager (600) to ascertain the computing resource requirementsfor the composed information handling system. For example, the databaseapplication entry (662) specifies that a compute resource set (664),control resource set (666) and hardware resource set (668) need to beallocated to the composed information handling system to have thecomposed information handling system be capable of performing theworkload associated with a database application. The compute resourceset (664) specified by the entry includes one processor and one gigabyteof memory, the control resource set (666) includes storage managementfor data generated and stored in the composed information handlingsystem, and the hardware resource set (668) includes three terabytes ofsolid state disk space. Using the information included in the databaseapplication entry (662), the system control processor manager (600)identifies corresponding compute, control, and hardware resource setsfor allocation to the composed information handling system using atelemetry data map (640) as illustrated in FIG. 6.2.

As seen in FIG. 6.2, the telemetry data map (640) includes entries (642,652) that specify the resource sets and corresponding hardware devicesof these resource sets of information handling system (IHS) A (e.g.,610, FIG. 6.1) and IHS B (e.g., 630, FIG. 6.1). For example, thetelemetry data map (640) includes an entry (642) associated with IHS A(610, FIG. 6.1) which specifies that IHS A (610, FIG. 6.1) includes acompute resource set (644) that includes a processor and memory, acontrol resource set (648) that includes a system control processor, anda hardware resource set (650) that includes a solid state disk that hastwo terabytes of storage space. Additionally, the telemetry data map(640) includes an entry (652) associated with IHS B (630, FIG. 6.1)which specifies that IHS B (630, FIG. 6.1) includes a compute resourceset (644) that includes a processor and memory, a control resource set(648) that includes a system control processor, and a hardware resourceset (650) that includes a solid state disk that has two terabytes ofstorage space.

Returning to FIG. 6.1, based on the information included in the tablesillustrated in FIGS. 6.2 and 6.3, the system control processor manager(600), at step 3, determines that a composed information handling systemshould be instantiated utilizing compute resource set A (612), systemcontrol processor A (614), and solid state disk A (616) of IHS A (610)and system control processor B (634) and solid state disk B (636) of IHSB (630). Furthermore, the system control processor manager (600)determines that system control processor A (614) to perform storagemanagement services and compute resource set A (612) is to be used toinstantiate a target agent (626).

Based on the determinations, a message, at step 4, indicating theseresources of the information handling system (610) is sent to systemcontrol processor A (614). The message indicates that the computeresource set A (612), two terabytes of the solid state disk A (616)storage space, and one terabyte of solid state disk B (624) is to beallocated to the composed information handling system. The message alsoindicates that compute resource set A (612) is to be used to host atarget agent and system control processor A (614) is to provide storagemanagement services.

In response to the message, at step 5, system control processor A (614)determines that one terabyte of solid state disk A (616) should bepresented by virtualizing a terabyte of solid state disk A (616) asstorage resource A (620). Additionally, system control processor A (614)determines that another one terabyte of solid state disk A (616) shouldbe presented by virtualizing a terabyte of solid state disk A (616) asstorage resource B (622). System control processor A (614) generates afirst appropriate address translation table associated with storageresource A (620) to present the one terabyte of storage as storageresource A (620). System control processor A (614) also generates asecond appropriate address translation table associated with storageresource B (622). At step 6, system control processor A (614) uses thefirst and second appropriate address tables to obtain storage resource A(620) and storage resource B (622) from solid state disk A (616).

At step 7, system control processor A (614) generates storageinformation (628) associated with storage resource A (620) and storageresource B (622B). At step 8, system control processor A (614)determines that an additional one terabyte of storage is be included inthe composed information handling system. Therefore, system controlprocessor A (614), at step 9, sends a message to system controlprocessor B (634) to provide the additional one terabyte of storage tothe composed information handling system. In response to the message, atstep 10, system control processor B (634) determines that one terabyteof solid state disk B (636) should be presented by virtualizing aterabyte of solid state disk B (636) as storage resource C (624). Systemcontrol processor B (634) generates a third appropriate addresstranslation table associated with storage resource C (624). At step 11,system control processor B (634) uses the third appropriate addresstable to obtain storage resource C (624) and from solid state disk B(636).

At step 12, system control processor B (634) generates storageinformation associated with storage resource C (624). At step 13, systemcontrol processor B (634) sends the address translation table and thestorage information associated with storage resource C (624) to systemcontrol processor A (614). After obtaining the address translation tableand the storage information associated with storage resource C (624), atstep 14, system control processor A (614) updates the storageinformation (628) using the storage information associated with storageresource C (624). At step 15, system control processor A (614) sends amessage to compute resource set A (612) to instantiate a target agent(626) associated with the three storage resources. In response to themessage, at step 16, compute resource set A (612) instantiates thetarget agent (626).

Turning to FIG. 6.4, at some time after step 16, at step 17, the targetagent (626) obtains a request to write data to a storage resource. Inresponse to obtaining the write request, at step 18, the target agent(626) sends a request to system control processor A (614) for storageinformation (628) associated with the storage resources (e.g., 620, 622,624). In response to the request, at step 19, system control processor A(614) identifies the storage availability and storage utilizationassociated with storage resource A (620) and storage resource B (622).At step 20, system control processor A (614) generates storageinformation associated with storage resource A (620) and storageresource B (622) based on the storage availability and storageutilization. Additionally, at step 21, system control processor A (614)determines that storage information associated with storage resource C(624) is to be obtained. In response to the determination, at step 22,system control processor A (614) sends a request to system controlprocessor B (634) for storage information associated with storageresource C (624). After obtaining the request, at step 23, systemcontrol processor B (634) identifies the storage availability andstorage utilization associated with storage resource C (624). At step24, system control processor B (634) then generates storage informationassociated with storage resource C (624) based on the storageavailability and storage utilization. At step 25, system controlprocessor B (634) sends the storage information to system controlprocessor A (614). After obtaining the storage information associatedwith storage resource C (624), at step 26, system control processor A(614) updates the storage information (628) based on the generatedstorage information associated with storage resource A (620), storageresource B (622), and storage resource C (624). At step 27, systemcontrol processor A (614) sends the storage information (628) to thetarget agent (626). After obtaining the storage information (628), atstep 28, the target agent (626) determines, based on the storageinformation, that storage resource C (624) is the best storage resourceto service the write request. In response to the determination, at step29, the target agent (626) writes the data to storage resource C (624),where the data is stored.

End of Example

Thus, as illustrated in FIGS. 6.1-6.4, embodiments of the invention mayprovide a system that enables efficient data storage in dynamicallyinstantiated composed information handling systems via preferentiallywriting data to storage resources that are able to service writerequests.

As discussed above, embodiments of the invention may be implementedusing computing devices. FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a computing device inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The computingdevice (700) may include one or more computer processors (702),non-persistent storage (704) (e.g., volatile memory, such as randomaccess memory (RAM), cache memory), persistent storage (706) (e.g., ahard disk, an optical drive such as a compact disk (CD) drive or digitalversatile disk (DVD) drive, a flash memory, etc.), a communicationinterface (712) (e.g., Bluetooth interface, infrared interface, networkinterface, optical interface, etc.), input devices (710), output devices(708), and numerous other elements (not shown) and functionalities. Eachof these components is described below.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer processor(s) (702) maybe an integrated circuit for processing instructions. For example, thecomputer processor(s) may be one or more cores or micro-cores of aprocessor. The computing device (700) may also include one or more inputdevices (710), such as a touchscreen, keyboard, mouse, microphone,touchpad, electronic pen, or any other type of input device. Further,the communication interface (712) may include an integrated circuit forconnecting the computing device (700) to a network (not shown) (e.g., alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as theInternet, mobile network, or any other type of network) and/or toanother device, such as another computing device.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computing device (700) mayinclude one or more output devices (708), such as a screen (e.g., aliquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, touchscreen, cathode raytube (CRT) monitor, projector, or other display device), a printer,external storage, or any other output device. One or more of the outputdevices may be the same or different from the input device(s). The inputand output device(s) may be locally or remotely connected to thecomputer processor(s) (702), non-persistent storage (704), andpersistent storage (706). Many different types of computing devicesexist, and the aforementioned input and output device(s) may take otherforms.

Embodiments of the invention may provide a system and method forperforming storage management services for composed information handlingsystems. Specifically, embodiments of the invention may provide storagemanagement services using target agents and system control processorswithout interrupting and/or hindering the performance of computerimplemented services provided by the compute resource set and entitiesexecuting on the compute resource set. Consequently, even though atleast a portion of the resulting composed information handling systemcontrol plane may be unaware of the implementation of the storagemanagement services provided by the target agents and the system controlprocessors, the composed information handling systems may still operatein accordance with storage management services, thereby improving theefficiency of storing data in a composed information handling system andreducing network congestion and network requirements in composedinformation handling systems.

Storage management services performed by target agents may includeperforming preferential writes of data to storage resources that aremost capable of efficiently storing the data. The target agents may workwith system control processors to identify storage resources of thehardware resource set of composed information handling systems that aremost capable of storing application data associated with storagerequests using storage information. Embodiments of the inventiontherefore allows for data to be stored in storage resources that aremost capable of storing the data, resulting in the elimination ofredundant network hopping, reducing network congestion and the networkrequirements to store data in a composed information handling system.

Thus, embodiments of the invention may address the problem ofinefficient use of computing resources to store data in a composedinformation handling system by performing storage management servicesfor composed systems. For example, by utilizing a system controlprocessor manager to setup, during the instantiation of a composedinformation handling system, a system control processor and a targetagent to perform storage management services, the storage managementservices may be efficiently performed for the composed informationhandling system using the system control processor and the targetagents.

The problems discussed above should be understood as being examples ofproblems solved by embodiments of the invention of the invention and theinvention should not be limited to solving the same/similar problems.The disclosed invention is broadly applicable to address a range ofproblems beyond those discussed herein.

One or more embodiments of the invention may be implemented usinginstructions executed by one or more processors of a computing device.Further, such instructions may correspond to computer readableinstructions that are stored on one or more non-transitory computerreadable mediums.

While the invention has been described above with respect to a limitednumber of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having the benefit ofthis disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devisedwhich do not depart from the scope of the invention as of the invention.Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by theattached claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for managing storage of data in composedinformation handling systems, comprising: storage for storing storageinformation; and a system control processor manager programmed to:obtain a composition request for a composed information handling system;identify at least one compute resource set having compute resourcesspecified by the composition request; identify at least one hardwareresource set having hardware resources specified by the compositionrequest, wherein the hardware resources comprise a local device forstoring data and a local data processor adapted to service writes usingthe local device and at least one remote device; setup storagemanagement services for managing writes of data to the at least onehardware resource set using an at least one control resource set and theat least one compute resource set to obtain logical hardware, whereinthe local data processor is programmed to preferentially service thewrites of the data using the local device rather than the at least oneremote device; and present the logical hardware resources using the atleast one control resource set to the at least one compute resource setas bare metal resources to instantiate a composed information handlingsystem to service the composition request.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein setting up storage management services for managing writes ofdata to the at least one hardware resource set using an at least onecontrol resource set and the at least one compute resource set to obtainlogical hardware comprises: preparing at least one compute resource ofthe compute resource set to execute a target agent to perform storagemanagement services based on storage information, wherein the at leastone compute resource comprises the local data processor; and preparingthe at least one control resource set to generate and maintain storageinformation associated with the at least one hardware resource set. 3.The system of claim 2, wherein performing at least a portion of thestorage management services is transparent to at least a portion ofapplications executing on the at least one compute resource set.
 4. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the storage information specifies storageutilization and storage availability of storages resources of the atleast one hardware resource set; wherein the storage resources comprisethe local device and the at least one remote device.
 5. The system ofclaim 2, wherein the target agent is programmed to: obtain a storagerequest of data from an application of applications executing on the atleast one compute resource set; in response to obtaining the storagerequest: obtain storage information associated with the at least onehardware resource set; identify a storage resource of the at least onehardware resource set to service the storage request; and write the datato the identified storage resource.
 6. The system of claim 5, whereinthe application is associated with the target agent.
 7. The system ofclaim 5, wherein the application is associated with an unavailabletarget agent.
 8. The system of claim 5, wherein the storage informationis obtained from the at least one control resource set.
 9. The system ofclaim 5, wherein the at least one control resource set comprises asystem control processor.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the systemcontrol processor is programmed to: identify available storage resourcesof the at least one hardware resource set; identify storage utilizationof the available storage resources; generate storage information basedon the available storage resources and the storage utilization; and sendthe storage information to the target agent.
 11. A method for managingstorage of data in composed information handling systems, comprising:obtaining a composition request for a composed information handlingsystem; identifying at least one compute resource set having computeresources specified by the composition request; identifying at least onehardware resource set having hardware resources specified by thecomposition request, wherein the hardware resources comprise a localdevice for storing data and a local data processor adapted to servicewrites using the local device and at least one remote device; setting upstorage management services for managing writes of data to the at leastone hardware resource set using an at least one control resource set andthe at least one compute resource set to obtain logical hardware,wherein the local data processor is programmed to preferentially servicethe writes of the data using the local device rather than the at leastone remote device; and presenting the logical hardware resources usingthe at least one control resource set to the at least one computeresource set as bare metal resources to instantiate a composedinformation handling system to service the composition request.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein setting up storage management services formanaging writes of data to the at least one hardware resource set usingan at least one control resource set and the at least one computeresource set to obtain logical hardware comprises: preparing at leastone compute resource of the compute resource set to execute a targetagent to perform storage management services based on storageinformation, wherein the at least one compute resource comprises thelocal data processor; and preparing the at least one control resourceset to generate and maintain storage information associated with the atleast one hardware resource set.
 13. The method of claim 12, whereinperforming at least a portion of the storage management services istransparent to at least a portion of applications executing on the atleast one compute resource set.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein thestorage information specifies storage utilization and storageavailability of storages resources of the at least one hardware resourceset; wherein the storage resources comprise the local device and the atleast one remote device.
 15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:obtaining, by the target agent, a storage request of data from anapplication of applications executing on the at least one computeresource set; in response to obtaining the storage request: obtainingstorage information associated with the at least one hardware resourceset; identifying a storage resource of the at least one hardwareresource set to service the storage request; and writing the data to theidentified storage resource.
 16. A non-transitory computer readablemedium comprising computer readable program code, which when executed bya computer processor enables the computer processor to perform a methodfor managing storage of data in composed information handling systems,the method comprising: obtaining a composition request for a composedinformation handling system; identifying at least one compute resourceset having compute resources specified by the composition request;identifying at least one hardware resource set having hardware resourcesspecified by the composition request, wherein the hardware resourcescomprise a local device for storing data and a local data processoradapted to service writes using the local device and at least one remotedevice; setting up storage management services for managing writes ofdata to the at least one hardware resource set using an at least onecontrol resource set and the at least one compute resource set to obtainlogical hardware, wherein the local data processor is programmed topreferentially service the writes of the data using the local devicerather than the at least one remote device; and presenting the logicalhardware resources using the at least one control resource set to the atleast one compute resource set as bare metal resources to instantiate acomposed information handling system to service the composition request.17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, whereinsetting up storage management services for managing writes of data tothe at least one hardware resource set using an at least one controlresource set and the at least one compute resource set to obtain logicalhardware comprises: preparing at least one compute resource of thecompute resource set to execute a target agent to perform storagemanagement services based on storage information, wherein the at leastone compute resource comprises the local data processor; and preparingthe at least one control resource set to generate and maintain storageinformation associated with the at least one hardware resource set. 18.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, whereinperforming at least a portion of the storage management services istransparent to at least a portion of applications executing on the atleast one compute resource set.
 19. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 17, wherein the storage information specifies storageutilization and storage availability of storages resources of the atleast one hardware resource set; wherein the storage resources comprisethe local device and the at least one remote device.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the methodfurther comprising: obtaining, by the target agent, a storage request ofdata from an application of applications executing on the at least onecompute resource set; in response to obtaining the storage request:obtaining storage information associated with the at least one hardwareresource set; identifying a storage resource of the at least onehardware resource set to service the storage request; and writing thedata to the identified storage resource.